


something extraordinary, i'm sure

by celestialfics (orphan_account), creativityatbest



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Adventure, M/M, Magic, Nymphs & Dryads, Wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6128110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/celestialfics, https://archiveofourown.org/users/creativityatbest/pseuds/creativityatbest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan accidentally summons a water-leaching demon while trying to cook his noodles one day, and luckily for him, Phil arrives just in time to help (and maybe hit him over the head). Adventure and magic ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	something extraordinary, i'm sure

**Author's Note:**

> drew and i both agree that this fic was one of the most fun things we've ever written so we hope it's just as fun to read!

It was strange, in the infinite collection of things that happen in the short span of a life, that so many things could have been laid upon Dan. From beggar to apprentice to wizard, he’d thought he’d seen it all—more than it all. He’d seen everything from trees that woke up to stretch their knotted branches to puddles that didn’t take particular liking to being jumped on (trust Dan on this, he had bruises for a week last time he made a splash). Dan was a grateful man for his collection of things, for his adventures and stories that ranged from heartbreaking to absolutely breathtaking.

He would forever be indebted to Master Greenheld, the man who took him in and promised to teach him every little thing about the power he possessed and how to use it correctly. Since the day he became a full-fledged wizard, Dan had promised to make the man proud, even if he had yet to capture the more conjuring section of spells. But he was working on it, slowly but surely.

And Master Greenheld had gone missing months ago. He’d left a note, however, that Dan was not supposed to go out and look for him. He was kind of a kook, so Dan figured he wanted to go be one with the nymphs for awhile or something. He’d be back eventually, probably with a new book full of hastily scrawled spells that he’d discovered while away.

Dan smiled at the thought; Master Greenheld was nothing if not an explorer, something Dan could never be. He just wasn’t cut out for a life of traveling—he’d much prefer staying in his home, practising things that were already proven to work. He wasn’t a risk-taker, Dan made that decision for himself years ago and he couldn’t see that changing now.

A match struck from behind Dan and he used his power to toss it into the fireplace. Instantly, the lumber was overtaken and the fire crackled, spitting out flecks of flame and ash. Fire magic had always been Dan’s favourite.

“About time, Howell. Do you know how _boring_ it is to spend day upon day waiting for you to ignite me?”

Dan rolled his eyes and smiled at the small boy made of fire that now sat in a nest of flame and ash. The boy sat cross-legged, his small fist holding up his head. He just glared at Dan with his bright yellow eyes.

“I missed you too, Flame-o,” Dan chuckled.

“That is _not_ my name and you are well aware of that.”

“Sure, sure, _Mafius_.” Dan smirked to himself and grabbed the large pot beside the fireplace, planning to create his dinner for tonight.

The little boy just sat and watched him intently, his yellow eyes blazing into Dan as they followed his every movement.

“You don’t have any _water_ , dummy,” Mafius clicked his tongue as Dan filled his pot with noodles.

Dan sighed instantly in response, groaning as he looked towards the direction of the river. The river De Pierre was at least half a kilometre from Dan’s home and he had no desire to take that walk.

“It’s fine. I’ll just… summon some water.”

Mafius rolled his eyes. “You know you’re absolutely no good with water magic.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just saying! If you were, maybe you’d have a friend made of water rather than one like me.”

“I have more than one friend, you know.” Dan turned away from the boy and towards a cabinet of spellbooks. Many of them had loose binding and were missing multiple pages—Master Greenheld always said he’d fix them up someday—but that didn’t stop Dan from rummaging through them for a water spell.

He finally found one in a thick brown book with the binding broken away and the cover so scratched he could only see a small river in the left hand corner. He sat down before Mafius and began to open the book.

“Wait,” Mafius spoke suddenly, “You are _not_ summoning water in front of me. Go out in the yard or something!”

Dan sighed, “Maybe I should direct the spell _at_ you,” he teased, standing from his place and walking towards the door. Mafius was right, it would be foolish to summon water in front of a fire-being.

With the spellbook tucked underneath his arm, Dan walked out into his yard. A few wildflowers sprouted just metres away from the house—Dan made a mental note to check if there was anything magical for which he could use them. Casting one last glance down at the De Pierre River, Dan traced his finger along the faint printed river on the cover of the book. Then, he pried it open; some dust puffed out, illuminating itself in the sunlight. Dan waved the particles away.

Dan shook out his arms and produced his wand from his sleeve—a cool trick Master Greenheld taught him years upon years ago—and he flipped through the book before finding his spell.

“ _Aqua Limetic. Aqua Limetic_.” Dan murmured to himself, not yet moving his arm in the motion of a wave to cast. He said the spell to himself one more time before pointing towards the pot. The power stored inside of Dan rose through his chest much like a cough he had to get out; he willed the feeling to rise up to his mouth and took control of it as he spoke.

“ _Aqua —a—ACHOO_!” Dan’s body shuddered violently from the sneeze as a stream of jet black water spit from his wand, landing in the middle of the pot and hissing as it sunk through the iron.

“Damn,” Dan cursed to himself as he hurried to his feet, thinking the creature was only a Hemmerlin, a being made from failed spells that set out to simply scold the owner. He got up to gather a broom and bat it off, but stopped as the black mass grew at least 3 feet taller than him, neon blue eyes staring down at him. Dan stumbled back, tripping on his own foot in his haste to escape. The being leaned over so it was face to face and Dan held his breath.

“W-water?”

The black mass let out something that Dan guessed was some kind of chortle as it grew even further into the sky. Dan tried to pull himself up off of the ground, but the figure sent a shock in his direction that knocked him back down.

“Not water, then,” Dan mumbled to himself, swallowing thickly as he once again attempted to sit up. He turned his head to see Mafius peering out of the window, but the boy of fire quickly retreated to the fireplace.

“Foolish,” the towering being boomed, its voice resembling that of a waterfall.

Dan crawled back over to the house and propped himself up against the wall. “What do you want?” he called to the one he’d summoned.

It just laughed. And then, Dan felt it.

The being shrunk down a few sizes and crouched over, its blue eyes piercing into Dan’s. Dan’s insides began to feel as if they were shriveling and he squeezed his eyes shut because they were beginning to dry. It was stealing Dan’s water from inside his body.

Dan could feel his blood slow, his lungs struggling to circulate air as they shrunk in on themselves. His skin cracked, resembling that of a dry riverbed as he finally found the strength to lift his wand. The action was cut short.

“What do you think you are doing?!” A cry came from Dan’s left, along with the creature’s cry as its force left Dan’s body. He dry heaved violently and turned to the left just in time to see a man with dark, _deep_ green hair, his torso clad in a black sleeveless vest held together by cross ties down half the chest and across the shoulders. He wore a pair of tight ivy trousers that were sprouting leaves that _could not_ be comfortable, but somehow still suited him. The man stared at the ground, the same ground now sprouting vines to hold the watery creature down.

The being let out a cry and melted into the ground until Dan couldn’t see a trace of its presence.

He was about to thank the man when a vine whapped him on the side of the head. “Ow! What!”

“Have you lost your _mind_?” The man hissed and stepped closer, close enough that Dan could see the green vein-like lines traveling beneath his translucent white skin. However, by seeing that, he missed the second vine that came to hit his head.

“ _Ow!_ The first one was understandable, but that was uncalled for!” Dan complained, holding the growing bruise.

The man rolled his green and blue eyes _—_ one was green, the other was blue _—_ and sat next to Dan on the ground. “Are you going to say thank you?”

“Well,” Dan started, scowling, “I was _going to_ before you decided to hit me. _Twice_.”

The man ignored Dan’s complaining. “I’m Phil. And I would say ‘nice to meet you’, if the circumstances were different.”

Dan shrugged, pursing his chapped lips. “I’m Dan, and I just needed water for my noodles.”

“By Merlin,” Phil scolded, “If you wanted water, there’s a river just over there!” He pointed down to the De Pierre, prompting Dan to shrink further back towards the wall.

“I didn’t feel like walking,” he muttered, to which Phil sighed.

“You rather felt like summoning a demon?”

“That wasn’t my _plan_ ,” Dan defended himself, looking down at his wand rather than meeting Phil’s gaze.

“This is great,” Phil replied sarcastically, standing and walking in a small circle over the area where the being had disappeared. “I meet the oh, _great_ wizard who casted the damn Voleur D'eau back into existence and he’s some kid too lazy to walk half a kilometre!”

“ _Hey_.” Dan glared and finally forced himself to stand again, leaning on the wall for support. “I’m not a kid.”

“I am 300 years old!” Phil retorted and placed his hand on the still damp patch of grass.

Dan whistled in response and Phil cast him a glare.

“Lucky for you, the Voleur D’eau hasn’t gone far. I could probably capture it before nightfall.” Phil turned towards the woods and started to walk away.

“Hey! Wait.” Dan scrambled forward, his legs still weak from the attack. “I want to help!”

“You need to rest,” Phil tutted. “And very well, you’re not going to be walking to the river now, but you need water to be rehydrated, so…” Phil took a deep breath. “I’ll get some for you. It’ll allow the demon to go further, but you won’t die this way.”

“I’d die!?” Dan gasped, inspecting his cracked skin.

“Probably not,” Phil rolled his eyes again, changing his direction of travel to that of the river. “Now, go sit down somewhere. I’ll be back soon.”

“Right, okay.” Dan tore his gaze from his dried skin and looked back at his house. Mafius was again at the window.

Dan thought he could hear Phil begin to sing as he walked away, but maybe not. He couldn’t think properly, given his situation. He dragged himself back towards his home and pried open the door, slamming it and leaning back on it after it’d shut.

“Mafius,” he breathed, “I’m gonna need you to go, for now.”

Mafius nodded; he saw what bad shape Dan was in and figured that a fire-being couldn’t quite help him out. So, the little boy crawled back into the fireplace and muttered something under his breath before vanishing back into the lumber.

Dan searched his cabinets for any liquid he could drink, but all he could find were vials of salamander blood and rabbit tears, which he didn’t consider edible. He groaned as he sat himself on a chair, willing himself not to think about just how thirsty he was. For the most part, that didn’t work.

By the time Phil returned, Dan was unscrewing the vial full of rabbit tears _—_ _sure,_ his nose would be twitching and he’d be hopping around with a yearning for carrots for a week, but at least he wouldn’t be dead.

“Oh, my god. You’re like a sprite. Can’t be left alone for a minute,” Phil proclaimed as he set a basket made of tightly wound vines on Dan’s table. He took the vial from Dan’s hand and screwed it shut as Dan dove for the drink.

“Don’t,” Phil warned and grabbed Dan’s forehead, pushing him back on the chair. Phil produced another tight vine cup from his palm and set it in Dan’s hands.

“Ew, really?” Dan turned up his nose at the cup in his hand, flickering his eyes from the vine to Phil’s hand.

Phil sighed again. “Drink. _My_ hands are clean, unlike someone’s here, and I’ve got to find the Voleur D’eau before it reaches a village.”

“Wait,” Dan said loudly, causing Phil to jump. “I thought I was coming with you.”

“Yeah, no, thank you. I don’t need some demon-creating wizard who can’t summon a pot of water to help me with this.”

“I’m really good with fire!” Dan bargained, observing the flicker of Phil’s eyes back towards himself.

“Did you actually just say that to me?” Phil inquired skeptically, looking from the vine cup to his crown of tree branches and leaves. “Everything that I am is flammable.”

Dan chuckled, “Everyone’s flammable. You’re not special, buddy.”

Phil scowled. “Fine. You can catch up with me, but only after you’ve hydrated yourself.” He stormed out of the door and Dan watched as he treaded over the land, vines of ivy sprouting from the ground behind him.

Dan sighed angrily to himself; he knew he could never catch up with Phil, the… whatever he was. In a moment of blind panic as Phil began to disappear into the forest, Dan raised his wand and yelled, “ _Friza_!”

Phil froze, his whole body tensing as his legs refused to budge. He struggled to turn, but when he did, he saw straight into Dan’s house and down the tip of his wand.

“Wizard boy! I am going to skin you!” Phil shouted, pulling at his legs.

“Right, you are,” Dan smirked to himself, standing from his chair and scooping the vine basket full of water from his table. He looped it around his arm _—_ after casting an anti-spilling spell _—_ and met Phil at the edge of the woods. “What are you waiting for?” He laughed at the spell-bidden man, pushing him to release him of the spell.

“You’re lucky I don’t choke you with these things right now.” Phil made a vine loop up and around one of Dan’s wrists, tickling at the skin.

“Why don’t you?” Dan tapped the vine with his wand.

“Do you really think I’d strangle the Voleur D’eau for you and then strangle _you_ right after?”

“You _did_ hit me,” Dan recalled, taking a bit of water from the basket into his cup.

“ _Please_ , that’s entirely different.” Phil shook his head. “Plus, how would I look if I harmed something as helpless as you?”

“Hey! I’ll have you know _—_ ”

Phil scoffed. “I don’t want to know anything.”

“Fine,” Dan huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, the vine basket bouncing against his stomach. “But, I’m not helpless.”

“When you prove that to me, I’ll believe you,” Phil said and started to walk into the woods. His legs moved gracefully, all foliage parting for him, allowing him to walk past.

“So, um,” Dan tripped over yet another stump, almost convinced Phil was placing them directly into his path. “Where are we going?”

“The Lakes of Minto _—_ about a foot away from the town of Minto. As long as we can get there first and stop the demon, everything will be fine.”

“But the _Georda_ lives in the Lakes of Minto,” Dan whispered hoarsely, thoughts of battling said human slash shark mix when he was an apprentice clouding his mind.

“He’s fine unless you’ve wronged him _—_ ” Phil groaned loudly and slapped a hand to his face. “Do you just anger _every_ magic being you come across?”

Dan averted his gaze, “It’s usually on accident.”

“Accident prone, are you?” Phil didn’t really intend on asking the question, since he already knew the answer.

Dan just swallowed. “Anyway, is there a way we could… detour?”

“I have an idea,” Phil started, a know-it-all grin spreading across his cheeks. “How about you go back to your little cottage, drink some water, and I’ll handle this myself? We’d both be better off that way.”

Dan tossed his wand up into the air and caught it as it came back down. “Not a chance.”

* * *

“Philip,” Dan jabbed as something hissed to his right. He raised his wand yet again, pivoting in a frantic circle.

While the pair had been walking the sun had set, so Dan became hyperaware to every sound he heard. Phil complained multiple times that he could’ve been over and done with the Voleur D’eau by now, if Dan hadn’t been constantly falling over stray branches and stumps, but he was lying.

“Will you calm down?” Phil pushed Dan’s wand down towards the forest floor. “You know that it’s just a myth that the forest is more dangerous at night.”

“It’s not a myth when there’s a giant black mass of a water-leaching demon somewhere out here.”

Phil clicked his tongue. “Guess not. Seen worse, though.”

“Like _what_?” Dan inquired exasperatedly. So far, he’d only been met with the Voleur D’eau, the Georda, and a few other pesky demons that weren’t actually much threat.

“Once, I met a monster with nine legs and two faces _—_ actually pretty nice, his name was Hank and he really liked tomatoes. Like, he could eat a whole barrel in one sitting.” Phil smiled at past memories and his eyes crinkled gently. Dan felt a ghost of a smile on his lips at the sight, so he looked away quickly.

“But that’s not… _scary_. That’s weirdly sweet.” Dan suddenly shuddered, the coldness of the night and (somewhat) nearby set of lakes taking effect. He held his arms close to his chest and gently tapped the basket, whispering a couple words of a heating spell just to make sure the water wouldn’t freeze.

“Well, there was that one time my lover turned into a Coslage.”

Dan shuddered at the thought, remembering seeing the creature in monster classification books. They were terrifying with their claw like fangs and their bodies the size of three men, crawling around with large red bugs’ eyes.

“Why did you put that thought in my head?” Dan whined and looked around them once again as he subconsciously leaned closer to Phil.

Phil shrugged, “I wanted to see how easily scared you were.”

Dan forced himself to step away from Phil at that statement. “I’m not scared.”

“ _Sure_ you’re not, you’re just clutching to my arm and your wand hasn’t left your hand since we lost sight of the sun.” Phil snickered and Dan slapped his shoulder to shut him up.

“At least I didn’t scream when a _bird_ landed on me,” Dan smirked to himself as Phil casted him a death glare. About an hour ago, a woodpecker made home on Phil’s shoulder and Phil screamed when it pecked the side of his head. “Birds aren’t even magical!”

“I didn’t scream,” Phil debunked, sending a vine in front of Dan’s leg, causing him to trip and let out an inhuman squeal. “And I surely didn’t _squeal_. Goodness, what was that?”

Dan pursed his lips, as if contemplating whether or not he should tell Phil something. He decided yes, “Once, when I was in training, my master turned me into a pig. ‘Guess some of it never left.”

“You’re not kidding, are you,” Phil choked out between laughs. Dan was just happy the sun had set, so Phil couldn’t see just what shade of red his cheeks had turned. “Why in the world did he turn you into a pig?”

“Well…” Dan began, picking his words with care. “I was quite young, and Master Greenheld had just brought home an entire case of raspberries. I loved raspberries, is the thing. I still do.”

“You ate all of them, didn’t you?” Phil snorted, “And he turned you into a _pig_?”

“Perhaps,” Dan grimaced, remembering the time.

“Surely a man of his skill could just summon more?” Phil inquired thoughtfully, playing with a vine in his hand.

“Greenheld doesn’t work like that,” Dan explained. “Had he seen me attempting to summon water, I’d probably be a fish right now. He’d turn me into a fish and make me flop the half a kilometre to the river.”

Phil chuckled, “Speaking of fish, are you hungry?”

“Wow, Phil, what a nice segway,” Dan deadpanned, kicking at the dirt with his shoes.

“Got the job done, didn’t it?” Phil defended, rolling his eyes.

“I guess,” Dan complied, “Yeah, I’m a bit peckish.”

“A ‘bit peckish’,” Phil teased, mocking Dan’s accent. Dan swatted at Phil’s bare shoulder with his wand.

“Are you… cold in that?” Dan took sudden awareness to Phil’s bare, translucent arms and the green lines that ran underneath them.

“No,” Phil replied, peering from his own skin to Dan’s. “I don’t really get cold, considering… Are _you_? Cold, that is.”

“A little.” Dan smiled sheepishly, clenching his hands together. His fingertips were cool against his palms. “But I can _—_ ”

“Let’s stop for the night,” Phil suggested, cutting Dan off. “Even water-leaching demons have to sleep, sometimes. So… we can, too.”

“You sure?” Dan cocked his head to the right and raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah. If you’re cold and hungry, we should stop.” Dan stopped, but Phil continued to walk, despite his statements.

“How will I know you’re not just going to abandon me in the middle of the forest?” Dan jogged a bit to once again catch up with Phil.

“ _I’m_ not the evil one, here.” Phil sighed, grabbing Dan’s hand and turning sharply to the left. “I knew there was a clearing around somewhere,” he clarified, dropping Dan’s hand and gesturing at the small open space.

“Perfect,” Dan grinned, “I can start a fire here.”

Phil visibly flinched, “Do you have to?”

Dan looked to the ground and then back up to Phil. “Uh… It would help me get warmer a lot faster, but if you really don’t want me to, I don’t need to.”

The tip of Phil’s tongue peeked out of his mouth momentarily while he thought. “Never mind me. Start your fire. Just, be careful, alright?”

“Don’t worry,” Dan assured, “I’ve practically mastered fire. And you’ll love Mafius.”

Phil raised an eyebrow at the mention of the unfamiliar name, but nodded towards the clearing for Dan to do his magic.

Dan twirled the wand in his hand _—_ it wasn’t a necessary gesture, he just liked to show off _—_ before mumbling a phrase under his breath and illuminating the tip of his wand with a flame.

Phil’s eyes widened, staring at the newly lit flame.

“If you thought that was impressive _—_ ”

“I didn’t,” Phil cut Dan off with a mischievous smile.

“Shut up,” Dan blushed, finishing his previous statement anyway. “I can start a fire on a match without saying anything.”

“Hm,” Phil pondered, “I guess that is pretty neat.”

“ _‘Pretty neat’_?” Dan demanded, offended, “That took me months to master!”

“Anyway,” Phil laughed, “What are you gonna light?”

“Oh, yeah,” Dan looked at the flame dancing on the tip of his wand for a moment before clearly pronouncing, “ _Mafius Xisur!”_

The same stack of logs that had sat at Dan’s home in the fireplace appeared in the middle of the clearing. Dan leant down towards the lumber and blew gently on the tip of his wand, fire spreading from the instrument down onto the wood. As the flames enveloped the lumber, Mafius began to slowly appear, sitting atop the logs.

Phil gasped and scrambled back. He ducked behind Dan’s back and glanced cautiously over his shoulder. “Why would you summon one of _them_?”

Dan rolled his eyes and looked at Mafius’s wide grin. The nymphs of fire and nature had been on the rocks for centuries now _—_ which was understandable seeing as the touch of a fire nymph could kill the entirety of a plant one.

“Phil, just… calm down. He won’t hurt you; he doesn’t like the cold.” Dan shrugged and Mafius hissed from behind him.

“Be silent,” Mafius grit out, fire curling from his nose upward.

“See? Harmless. Besides, he’s just a _baby_ fire,” Dan reasoned and sat down on the nearest log, Phil still tucked behind his shoulder.

“It’s good to see you back as your fleshy self,” Mafius mused from the log pile before eyeing Phil with suspicion. He’d seen the man earlier, fighting the water demon, and he knew that if Phil really wanted to, he could smother Mafius with some damp vines in a heartbeat.

“It’s good to see you back as your _bratty_ self,” Dan replied, and perhaps had Mafius not been made of fire, he would’ve ruffled the boy’s hair.

More flames licked up at Mafius’s face, but he smiled regardless, this time focusing on Phil. “And you’ve brought me a kissiae nymph. My favorite _snack_.” He smirked at Phil’s little jump and scramble to use Dan as a human shield once again.

Dan threw a bit of his water onto Mafius and the fiery boy shrieked, flickering away for a second while smoke rose up from him.

“Stop scaring him before I summon someone else to make my meals,” Dan threatened and grabbed Phil’s sleeve. In one motion, he tugged Phil down to sit beside him on the log.

“Ah, yes. The wonderous things I will miss out on.” Mafius propped his elbow on his knee and set his head atop it.

Dan continued to prepare his meal, just a small spell to produce freshly cooked bread. It was just a simple flick of the wrist so he wasn’t worried, but Phil obviously was, judging by the gasp and hand that gripped at Dan’s wrist to stop him.

“I can do _this_ one.” Dan rolled his eyes as Phil continued to stare at him.

“I’m not sure I can trust you with anything,” Phil retorted, but he loosened his grip on Dan’s wrist anyway.

“Phil, if you can’t trust me, you have to leave. Though… neither of us can do this alone. Get your vines ready if you want, but I am starving.” Dan slowly pulled his wrist from Phil’s grip and stared into his multi coloured eyes; the veins in a human eye would be red but his were deep green.

Phil bit his lip and finally let Dan free. Vines crawled up from the ground and raised into the air, twisting like leafy tentacles. “Go.”

Dan sighed before momentarily shutting his eyes and flicking his wrist, a loaf of bread materializing in Mafius’s open palms. The small boy turned the loaf around in his hands a few times before tossing the now toasted bread at Dan.

“Thank you.” Dan smiled at the crackling flame and pushed his wand back into his sleeve. The ivy slowly sunk back into the Earth as Phil relaxed.

“We’re actually wasting so much time,” Phil mumbled and leant on his elbows.

“What happened to _‘Even water-leaching demons have to sleep, so, we can, too’_? Besides, the Georda will hold them off.” Dan shrugged and broke the bread open, squeaking as the doughy inside sloshes over his forearms. “ _Mafius_ …” he grumbled, before continuing, “Plus, Phil, you’re the one who suggested we stop.”

“Only because of your human tendencies to get _cold_ and _hungry_ ,” Phil replied, exasperated.

Dan just glared and tossed the gooey bread behind him as Mafius laughed with Phil.

“You’re ganging up on me,” Dan whined and crossed his arms, sticking out his tongue akin to that of a small child.

“We are merely laughing at your incompetence.” Mafius sighed before locking eyes with Phil and smiling again.

“Well, stop it before I put you both out!” Dan warned, pointing his wand at both of them.

“Fine, fine.” Mafius put his arms up as Dan, more slowly this time, produced another small loaf. Mafius twirled it in his hands a few seconds longer before he handed it over.

No dough sludged onto Dan this time and he gratefully ate the bread in only a few bites.

Just as he’d finished chewing, Phil surprised Dan by pressing his palm to Dan’s temple. Dan tensed and looked at the concentration on Phil’s face as he studied him. “Are you hydrated now?”

“I mean,” Dan stuttered, “More so than before.”

“I can hear a river from here,” Phil said, “It wouldn’t be much of a walk to get you some more water.”

Dan hadn’t realized he’d emptied the vine basket Phil had before filled for him.

“Or,” Dan smiled teasingly, “I could just summon _—_ ”

“ _No_ ,” Phil and Mafius spoke in unison, neither of them amused by Dan’s attempt at a joke.

“I was wondering,” Dan rolled his eyes at the pair before pondering, “Don’t plants transpire? Can’t you, like, produce water from your vines?”

“It’d be much less work just to walk to the river,” Phil stated, “and it’d take a lot less time.”

“Ah,” Dan grunted, “Do as you please.”

“I’m not just walking to the river for the hell of it, Dan. Do you need more water?” Phil sighed, drumming his fingers on his wrist.

Dan swallowed, but it became apparent just how dry his throat had become over the past hour or so. “It’d be appreciated.”

“Alright.” Phil stood, “And don’t you two go on setting the whole forest on fire, now.”

“No promises,” Mafius teased, sending a short spiral of flames whirling up towards the trees.

Phil glared at the boy, but turned on his heel and walked into the leafy, darkened forest.

Dan had fallen asleep by the time Phil returned with water, so Phil just set the basket of water off to the side and followed suit, lying next to him. Mafius sighed and crossed his arms to his chest; he’d have to sit there all night doing nothing just to keep Dan warm.

And Mafius didn’t bother to interfere when Dan rolled over on the ground and ended up pressed right into Phil, because the little shit loved to see Dan embarrassed (which didn’t happen often, seeing as they lived alone and rarely had visitors).

Phil sighed to himself and looked at the blanket of deep blue sky laid out above them. The glow of Mafius’s flame dampened the stars’ twinkle.

“So how is the Fire realm these days?” Phil found himself asking, subconsciously weaving a blanket of akebia to cover Dan and (hopefully) keep him warm.

Mafius played with a piece of rock until it crumbled to ash; he finally answered as the powder sifted through his fingers. “I haven’t been back in a while, actually. I just hope nobody let it crumble all to hell like last time.”

Phil huffed out a laugh and folded his arms behind his head, Dan’s head burrowing comfortably into his side. “That was a horrid day for all of us. It’s unbelievably hard to move 40,000 fire nymphs unnoticed through a forest.”

Mafius bursted into laughter at that one. “I’m pretty sure you plant nymphs almost shit a brick. No offense to you, though.”

“None taken. A lot of us were like that.” Phil shrugged and Dan’s heartbeat evened out as his head hit Phil’s ribcage.

“How is your realm looking? Perfect as always?” Mafius tried his hardest to keep the bite from his voice. It was hard to socialize with someone that could be classified as your worst enemy. Plant nymphs and fire nymphs hadn’t ever gotten along for… fairly obvious reasons.

Phil rolled his eyes, “It’s… calm, most of the time. Most of us have a solid routine to stick to.”

“And you?” Mafius inquired.

“I don’t spend a whole lot of my time there.” Phil shrugged, bringing down one of his hands to rest it on Dan’s back.

“Too busy fighting demons?” Mafius quirked an eyebrow, to which Phil softly chuckled.

“Not usually.”

Dan groaned quietly in his sleep at the movement of Phil’s torso from his laugh. Mafius’s attention was drawn to the sleeping man, a devious smirk imprinting onto his lips.

“When’s the wedding?” the fire nymph asked, watching as Dan adjusted his position in his sleep.

“I’m just helping him keep warm,” Phil defended, raising his hand off of Dan’s back, though the akebia vines stayed.

“That’s _my_ job,” Mafius replied, skeptical. “Anyway, at your wedding, will I be able to bring family members? Or are fire nymphs not allowed.”

“Shut up,” Phil looked down at Dan, fighting the urge to play with his hair. There was a slight curl of his hair towards the roots, creating a miniature cowlick that Phil wanted desperately to smooth down.

Mafius observed Phil’s interest in Dan’s hair and grinned mischievously. “You know he spells his hair straight?”

“Does he?” Phil smiled, “He doesn’t look like someone who has naturally curly hair.”

“That’s what he thinks, too. Though I think it’s a waste of magic.” Mafius shrugged; he didn’t really have hair he could style seeing as it was just fire.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t spelled it into fire or a cat or something on accident.”

“Well…”

Mafius bursted into stories about other times Dan’s spells had failed, and Phil had to suppress his laughter as to not disturb the sleeping man.

* * *

The next morning, Dan opened his eyes to find Mafius tossing a twig into the air, catching it with tendrils of fire and watching as it turned to ash that then floated around him like snow. Dan yawned on instinct and went to scratch his head only to find a warm weight settled upon it.

He forced his sleep worn body to turn and found Phil pressed up against him, one arm slung around his waist and the other at an awkward bent so it settled in Dan’s nest of curls. Phil’s head was facing the sky and the sun bounced off his pale skin to illuminate his whole face.

“I didn’t know nymphs could sleep,” Dan inquired out loud and jumped when Mafius’s bored drawl actually answered.

“They can’t. He used too much magic yesterday and he’s in restoring energy mode; he’s absorbing his energy from the sun. He’ll be fine in 20 minutes,” Mafius answered and watched Dan try to untangle Phil’s hand from his hair. Dan was having some trouble as somewhere in the night his hair seemed to wrap around Phil’s fingers.

“Your hair spell must’ve worn off overnight,” Mafius commented, amused at the sight. “And I reckon you shouldn’t waste any magic on it today, with what you’re going to be fighting later.”

Dan cursed to himself as he ripped a tangle apart to free Phil’s pinkie. “Do you really think so? Like will that bit of magic save my life?”

“Yes,” Mafius replied instantly, confused as to why a _wizard_ was asking a _fire nymph_ for advice on magic. “Besides, Phil likes it.”

Dan squeaked in surprise. “You didn’t tell him.”

“I did,” Mafius said, “But it’s not like I had to. He could see it anyway.”

“Great. That’s just great,” Dan murmured angrily and struggled to free Phil’s index finger from a ringlet without waking him. “How mad do you think he’d be if I just sawed off these fingers?”

“Very, very mad,” a deep voice spoke from behind Dan and he gasped in surprise, accidently jerking his head and pulling another tangle out. “Ow.”

“Same,” Dan struggled to turn around, but when he managed it, Phil’s tired, glazed eyes were staring at him. “Sorry to wake you,” Dan blushed and apologized, rubbing a hand to the places on his head where he’d torn out Phil’s fingers.

Phil blinked slowly, adjusting to the light. “I’m fine.”

Mafius disagreed. “You need a bit longer,” he commented, to which Phil sighed.

“You’re right… but do we have the time?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dan spoke up, urging Phil to get the rest he needed.

Phil eventually complied and Dan took the time to summon himself more food. After he’d eaten a few biscuits and drained the water basket Phil had retrieved the night prior, he turned his attention back to the resting man to realize his chest wasn’t moving.

“Phil, you’re not breathing!” he panicked, turning to Mafius. “He’s not breathing!”

Mafius sighed deeply before deadpanning, “Plant nymphs don’t breathe, dumb ass. There’s this thing called _photosynthesis_.” Before Dan could reply, Mafius continued to speak. “Besides, you just noticed now that he’s not breathing? How observant of you. I’d think you would realize while your head rested on his chest all night.”

“My… I… What?” Dan stuttered and then turned to see Phil covering his face with his hands. “I know you’re not sleeping,” Dan tugged Phil hands until Phil’s arms gave way.

Phil looked at him, guilt written all over his face and if he could blush Dan was certain he would be the color of tomatoes. “You _may_ have fallen asleep on me for a _second_.”

Mafius faked a cough. “Or _—_ eight hours,” he said through his “coughing fit”.

“What?” Dan remained bemused, “Why didn’t you shove me off or something?”

“You were cold,” Phil told half of the truth.

“That’s what Mafius is for,” Dan replied.

“That’s what I said!” Mafius piped up, eager to embarrass anyone he could.

Phil shot the small fire nymph a powerful glare to which Mafius just smiled back.

“Anyway,” Phil cleared his throat, sitting up. “We have a water demon to catch so… we should probably get going.”

Dan threw him a skeptical glance but agreed, standing from his place on the ground. Mafius pursed his lips and said a hasty farewell before disappearing back into the lumber beneath him. Dan spelled the wood pile back to his home where it wouldn’t be disturbed.

“Alright, which way do you think it went?” Dan asked Phil as he looked around the still blooming forest.

“That way,” Phil turned to face south and started to stride away, leaving Dan’s ungraceful legs to trample over twigs and rocks behind him. “I can feel it.”

Together they hurry through the forest, Dan still tripping over things until the front of his foot collided head on with a rock. Dan yelped out in pain as he fell face first to the ground, feeling bolts of pain spreading through his stomach, leg, and face.

“Dan!” Phil said, instantly sounding panicked as he helped Dan to his feet. “Are you alright? Can you walk?”

Dan shakily nodded as he forced pressure on that foot. They tried to continue but Dan stumbles worse this time _—_ threatening to fall over almost every second. Phil paused to let Dan catch up before grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. His hand was cold against Dan’s palm thanks to the distinctly ‘not blood’ running through his veins. (Dan wondered _—_ was his blood technically sap?) Anyway, Dan gratefully let Phil drag him along, noticing the sudden lack of anything in his path.

“The plants part for me,” Phil said, as if he could suddenly read Dan’s thoughts. God, Dan hoped not as his thoughts were a jumbled mess ranging from spells to kill the water demon to how to knit a pair of dog booties should the need arrive for them.

“How far do you think it is?” Dan questioned, the ache in his foot beginning to fade.

“We’re getting near,” Phil responded, “But you saw how the Voleur D’eau dissolved into the ground _—_ it can materialize like that, too.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I _wish_ I were kidding,” Phil sighed, continuing through the forest. “The Lakes of Minto are just… here.”

They stepped into a clearing, revealing a set of lakes that were all separated by thin strips of land. A small island in the middle of all the lakes protruded by only a few feet above the water.

“Uhh,” Phil started, “Just… stand behind me, yeah? I doubt the Georda will have an issue.”

Dan nodded slowly in response, falling behind Phil and gripping his shoulder rather than his hand. (The pain in his foot had nearly subsided, but he didn’t want to let go of Phil _—_ not yet.)

“Phil? Can I ask you a question?” Dan whispered into Phil’s ear as the thin strips of land bobbed beneath their feet.

Phil nodded and risked a small jump over a submerged piece of grass. Dan had trouble with the small jump thanks to his ankle so Phil wrapped an arm around his waist and gently pulled him over. “What is it?”

“Are you, like, as terrified as I am right now?” Dan said as quietly as his voice would allow; he kept his grip on Phil’s shoulder tight, hoping his fingernails wouldn’t leave a mark on the exposed skin. Did Phil get bruises or cuts? He wasn’t certain but he knew they wouldn’t be red _—_ maybe an aesthetic green color. Oh no, here he was rambling off again instead of focusing on the here and now; he seriously needed to work on that. Anyway, _focus, Dan, focus_.

“A hundred percent scared out of my mind if I’m being honest. I thought all of these damn water suckers were gone for good,” Phil answered, which caused Dan to turn paper white. “I’m not mad at you though; it was an honest mistake with bad consequences and you’re trying your hardest to take it back. You’re a good man, Dan.”

Dan found that kind of hard to believe.

Suddenly the local water began to shake, causing the pieces of land to waver as well. Dan held tighter to Phil’s shoulder as a being began to emerge from the water fin-first. After the initial dorsal fin appeared through the top of the water, Phil started to hold his breath. The rest of the Georda began to haul itself onto a chunk of land as Dan cowered behind Phil’s back.

“Hello!” Phil called out to it, though the being was already staring at him. “Have you seen…” He tried to think of the right way to word his question. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary here, recently?”

The Georda grunted before answering, “Last night. Stopped demon from entering village. Water demon. Tried to drain lakes.”

“Can you tell me which way this demon went?” Phil kept his language primal.

As the monster began to reply, Dan’s foot lost hold on the land beneath him and he began to slip into the water. Phil whipped around and hoisted him back up by the shoulders, but the Georda had then seen him.

“Who?” it asked, moving quickly from different pieces of land to get a closer look.

Dan bit his lip harshly and tried to mask himself behind Phil once again, but his cover was already broken. Phil could feel him shaking like a leaf.

“Don’t mind him,” Phil spoke, “He’s just a… a peasant boy.”

Dan didn’t have it in him to scold Phil for that.

“No,” the Georda disagreed. “I know. Wizard.”

“Fuck,” Dan cursed, stepping out from behind Phil to face the monster. Phil took hold of his pale hand and squeezed.

“You,” it began, “Years ago. Hurt.”

Dan swallowed thickly. “Yes, and I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” The Georda let out something that was probably meant to be a laugh. “No one sorry.”

“ _I_ am,” Dan persisted, “I am sorry.”

“He really is very sorry,” Phil contributed, glad the Georda was barely competent and so easily swayed.

A pondering look splayed itself across the monster’s face for a few moments, and then it spoke once again. “Toward waterfall,” it said before diving back into the lake water.

Dan let out a heavy breath, turning back towards Phil. Phil pressed a hand into his shoulder and turned him in the direction of the nearest waterfall. “That was a bit easier than I’d expected,” Phil admitted, again leading Dan across the lakes.

“For you maybe, that was the _worst_ moment of my entire life,” Dan answered and allowed Phil to nervously run his fingers down Dan’s shoulder to the base of his neck then back again.

“Worse than having all the fluid drained out of you at once?” Phil inquired, skeptical.

“Okay,” Dan sighed, “You got me there. That sucked.”

“ _Literally_.”

Dan would’ve hit Phil for that, but he was scared of tumbling into the water.

“Oh, I just got a bad image in my head,” Phil spoke abruptly after a few ticks of silence, quickening his pace.

“What’s that?”

“I just,” Phil took a breath, “I just imagined the Voleur D’eau sitting underneath the waterfall and absorbing all the falling water. That’s _so much water_ per second, Dan. We have to get there, and quick.”

“Oh, Morgana.” Dan summoned his wand and matched Phil’s pace even with a slight drop in his step. At the moment his injured ankle meant nothing, all that mattered was getting to the Voleur D’eau and stopping it before anything could get severely hurt. Dan didn’t think he could live with himself if someone died because of his folly.

Together they hurried towards the waterfall, each plagued by horrible thoughts. Phil would never voice this to Dan but he could feel every drop of water the Voleur D’eau took, feel the death of a plant vibrate through his bones and rattle his brain. The idea that he was failing was being projected into his head by his ruler in what can only be described as a scream—a shriek that he needed to be better, be stronger; he needed to finish this even if he wasn’t alive by the end. But Dan couldn’t know that he was causing Phil so much pain, it would break him.

The waterfall came into view and along with it came the increase of Dan’s heart rate. He’d felt what that monster could do to him and he never wanted to feel it again. It was terrifying and painful—so painful there were no words to describe it in full. Dan had been so close to death, seconds away from the destruction of his existence that up until that point seemed so little and futile. He realized there was more he needed to do, to see, to accomplish than just hanging around his home forever. It took feeling the graze of death from him to realize he was more important than he could have ever guessed—if he died now there was no wizard to protect the small band of villages collectively known as Jemani. And now, without him and Phil, everyone around would die. These thoughts were far from helpful.

Dan could see it now, the Voleur D’eau. It was so much bigger then, and stronger too. How was he going to do this?

Phil squeezed his shoulder as he too caught sight on the monster.

Together, they would do it together.

Dan’s hand grew hot as he concentrated his magic into his wand, wounding the magic like a spring. Phil had already begun to tactically weave vines underneath the demon so that it could not slink into the ground and escape.

As soon as the Voleur D’eau caught sight of the two, it forced itself to grow ten times in size. Dan resisted the urge to cower and continued to mumble words to his wand, charging it so that when he had the chance it could fully explode its energy.

When the entire ground in the area had become covered in thick vines, Phil turned his attention to the waterfall. He began to construct a dam at the top of it, keeping the water away from the demon. As he did so, Dan casted a few distraction spells to keep the monster away from the nymph.

Dan casted mirages of himself and Phil so that twenty of them jumped about the demon’s vision and it could not tell where to concentrate its power. It shot a black bolt of lighting at one of the images, merely scorching the vines underneath.

Slowly, the water from the waterfall stopped falling. It all became trapped at the top, held back by a wall of plants. Phil clenched his jaw as he held the plants in place, holding back tons of water. He secured the more flimsy plants by sprouting tree trunks near them, and then he backed away from his creation to face the ever growing monster.

Dan was still sprouting more and more minions to hold off the monster; he didn’t even notice Phil’s presence until the nymph gently tapped his shoulder. Dan glanced over and Phil nodded—together they raced towards the monster.

“Split up! You go right; I have left!” Phil called out to Dan and Dan nodded, shouting a powerful spell to turn the water in the demon’s body to ice. The monster froze for a split second before the mass of water overpowered Dan’s spell and thawed out the ice. Dan cursed and dodged a lightning bolt that was close enough to have singed one of his curls. He lifted his wand again but couldn’t get a good enough aim on the demon’s, _face?_ Did the demon have a face? It had eyes, Dan knew for sure. So he aimed.

Dan shoved past one of this doubles, noticing all of his had straight hair, serving to set him apart from the others. He was an open target, if the demon looked close enough. Dan tossed another ice spell at the demon, his main goal to find a way to lower the monster to the ground or slow him down enough for Phil’s vines to have any use. He shoved most of his power into the wand and screamed as it scorched his left hand, and still he stood tall and grit his teeth as he summoned a cage of ice around the demon, ice thicker than his own torso.

The demon cried out as the cage surprised it and sent it tumbling to the ground. The cage cracked as it hits solid Earth and Phil took over.

Phil wrapped his vines around the cage to hold it together, creating a ball-like shape of vines around the demon. Even if it managed to melt the ice, it would be submerged completely in vines. Phil began to tighten the vines, the ice splintering beneath them. As they continued to constrict, Dan cleared all the mirages to conserve his magic.

The pieces of ice pressed into the Voleur D’eau like shards of glass, the being emitting an awful, low groan. Before Phil could fully kill it, it began to shrink in size—the water inside it exploding from it’s mouth. It shrunk so rapidly that the vines could not keep up and the demon, now the size of an adult rabbit, slipped out through a hole.

“Stop it!” Phil shouted, releasing the energy he had been using to tighten the vines. The ball of vines and ice fell to the ground with a large crash, but none of the combatants turned their heads to even look at it.

Dan cast a fire spell at the black mass, creating a wall of flames in the direction it had headed. In response, it again began to grow larger. As it’s piercing blue eyes came in contact with Dan’s, he could feel its draining effects once again.

“Phil—” Dan wheezed while he still could; the Voleur D’eau was quicker than it had been when first encountered. Dan could already feel his organs collapsing due to dehydration.

Phil watched as Dan fell into a heap on the ground, shriveling much too quickly. He created a dome of vines around the man under attack, severing the demon’s power from him. He used extra energy to make the vines transpire, fluids falling down onto Dan and seeping into his skin. Phil then focused all his leftover energy at the Voleur D’eau.

He sent a vine quickly whipping through the demon’s center, slicing through its now drastically depleted water supply. He repeatedly slashed the vine back and forth, taking out his anger on the evil being. There wasn’t much else he could channel besides fury, at this point.

All Phil could hear was a dull ring as the being let out a high pitched, ear shattering shriek that shook through Phil and threatened to make him collapse. Phil just took a deep, rattling breath and tightened the vine around the water demon. “Never. Touch. Him. Again,” Phil said through gritted teeth as he squeezed the demon like a stress reliever. “Or any of them!”

The demon looked straight at him and Phil stared back, even though he could feel his power begin to deplete. From the vines holding the water back to the flat surface cutting off the water beneath the ground to the dome above Dan’s head, Phil could feel it all slowly taking its toll. He could feel the water as if he were every single vine and he could feel Dan’s fear from inside that pitch black dome—he could feel it all and it was threatening to take him away.

Suddenly, a large cry came from the lake. Phil jerked his head momentarily to watch a grey fin emerge from the water, followed by a smooth grey body and a scream, “Georda!”

The Georga broke the surface with another cry. Phil hurried to destroy the vines over the lake and allow the Georda to leap into the air and make its way inside. It sailed over all of their heads, a great oval shadow covering all their sights. Phil unleashed a few vines, allowing Dan to see outside of his shield, though still protecting him from the demon’s wrath.

As the Georda landed into the lake below the waterfall, Phil tossed the demon into its open mouth, three rows of razor sharp teeth awaiting it. Merlin, Phil hoped this would work.

The demon screamed in a high pitched fashion as the Georda clamped its jaw shut and chewed. Phil gasped thankfully before hearing a muffled yell from the dome. After smothering the fire Dan had started, Phil ran as fast as he could manage over to Dan’s dome and crouched beside it.

“Phil, you did it,” Dan smiled weakly, his skin damp from the onslaught of water dripping from the vines.

“With your help,” Phil pressed his hand into Dan’s dampened cheek, “and the Georda’s. The Georda’s going to kill it, right? Like… in a few days… it won’t just—”

“ _Stop_ it, Phil.” Dan began to laugh but he winced in pain so he stopped abruptly. “I’m sure it’s done for.”

“Thank Mother Nature. Do you want to leave the dome now?” Phil asked carefully, letting a few vines slither back into the Earth.

“Please, it smells like mold in here,” Dan answered and sighed as the vines broke away—the first thing he did was breath in the fresh air and fall flat on his back.

“I’m gonna get you some water,” Phil said, stepping away and towards the lake. 

Before he could actually carry that out, he had to clean up some of the mess he’d left. He slowly withdrew the vines at the top of the waterfall as not to overwhelm the flow of water and flood the entire lake. Then, he drew the vines covering the ground back and approached the lake, hastily weaving a basket to hold water for Dan.

He returned to his dehydrated friend and helped him to sit up and drink little bits of water at a time, replenishing him at a good pace.

“Feels oddly familiar, doesn’t it?” Dan smiled but willed himself not to do more than that. Phil smiled back at him before letting him have another sip.

“Wizard!” the Georda called happily from the lake. “Nymph!”

“Hello! Thank you!” Dan used his right arm to wave as his left was covered in burn marks on the palm—those would take some time to heal.

“Wizard! Nymph! Friends!” The Georda bobbed around its lake happily, sloshing water onto the bank. Dan laughed as a bit sprayed over his shoes and doused Phil.

“Georda! Friend!” Phil called back and laughed as the water disappeared from his skin.

Dan immediately gasped in shock but relaxed as Phil turned to him, “Sorry, I keep forgetting the plant thing.”

Phil just chuckled and pulled Dan into a relieved, happy embrace. Dan grinned into the nymph’s shoulder.

“I’m never making noodles again.”

“I’m never _letting_ you make noodles again!”


End file.
